Not Another Fairytale
by DarkFairy77
Summary: This is a fairytale story that is not traditional. Roles have been reversed and it's the prince who gets kidnapped and is rescued by a female bounty hunter and tracker who was hired by his parents.
1. Chapter 1: The Silver Spoon

**Not another Fairytale**

**This is a fairytale story that is not traditional. Roles have been reversed and it's the prince who gets kidnapped and is rescued by a female bounty hunter and tracker who was hired by his parents. **

**Chapter One: The Silver Spoon**

Once upon a time in a typical kingdom lived a typical Prince. His name was Rupert, and grew up with all the privileges a typical prince would receive. He lived in a typical castle with a tradition king and queen as parents. He received anything his heart's desire, being a sole heir to the throne.

It was true that Prince Rupert was spoiled and sheltered and wanted for nothing except the one thing he couldn't have and that was freedom. He rarely left the castle and when he did it was always with a bodyguard. He knew almost nothing about the outside world, but he was determined to change all that.

It was early in the morning and the sun had barely come up when Prince Rupert heard a wrapping at his door. He had been up for hours just staring at the ceiling of his large room studying the faces of the characters that were painted there. There were knights in battle fighting a powerful dragon to save the beautiful princess.

Nothing exciting like that would ever happen to him. In fact, there hadn't been a single unsavory incident since before he was born. He felt he had to go through another routine day he would scream. Things need to change, and he was determined to see that it did.

He didn't even move a muscle while lying in bed as his man servant came into the room. He was all smiles as usual. Prince Rupert couldn't remember a day when the man wasn't in a good mood. Sometimes he thought the man was under a pleasant spell, because he couldn't believe anyone would be in that good a mood all the time.

"Time to get up, your highness," he said, practically singing the words.

Rupert just rolled his eyes and gave a deep breath. "I'm already awake, Milton," he said but made no attempt to get out of bed.

"Then, why are we still lounging around?" he asked as he laid out his clothes. "We have so much to do today."

Rupert took a deep breath and forced himself out of bed. "You know, Milton," he said as the man put the finishing touches on his outfit. "Just once I would like to dress myself."

The man burst out laughing as if he said something ridiculous. "Don't be silly, your highness. Remedial things like that is not the job for a prince."

He thought for a moment of what a prince was really supposed to do, but nothing of any importance came to mind.

"Then what is my job, Milton?" Rupert asked. There was a sullen look about his face.

"Simply to do your duty," Milton answered. "There we are, now your parents are expecting you for breakfast. They have some important news for you."

"Alright, Milton, I'm going," he said and walked towards the door. Milton hurriedly raced to it before he could reach it and opened it for him. It seemed like he couldn't even do that for himself.

He walked down the hall in frustration but still curious about what his parents wanted to tell him. He wanted to go off on some grand adventure, but he wasn't going to get his hopes up… not this time anyway. He just took a deep breath as he entered the dining all. When he walked in he saw his parents conversing with each other. They both looked very excited which worried Rupert.

Just what did they had planned?

He walked down the long table and sat down in the empty seat across from his mother, while his father was seated at the head of the table. His mother gave him a warm smile and then daintily touched her napkin to her face.

"Good morning, dear," she said as one of the servers came into the room and put a plate in front of Rupert. It had many of his favorites, but this morning he didn't have an appetite.

"Good morning, Mother," he said, looking down at his plate. He didn't want to make eye contact with her. Instead, he just played with his food.

"Darling, are you alright?" he mother asked him.

"I'm fine," he said, even though he was far from it.

"Well, that's wonderful, dear, because your father and I have something to tell you."

He looked up at that moment to see that familiar signal his parents gave each other when they were about to announce something serious. "What's going on?" Suddenly his breakfast looked more appetizing and he took a bite of his sausage.

"We're going to have a ball?" his mother squealed in excitement.

"Suddenly Rupert spit out his food which flew across the room and onto the floor.

"Rupert, what was that all about?" his father asked him in a scolding tone. "A prince should have better table manners than that."

"Sorry, Father, but a ball? Why now?" Rupert asked.

"Because it's time you found a wife," his father said.

"And how is ball supposed to do that?" he asked.

"Because all the princesses from all the surrounding kingdoms will be in attendance."

"That's all well and good," he said and rose from the table, "but you can do it without me."

Rupert stumped out of the dining hall and out into the courtyard for practice. Sparing with one of the knights was just what he needed to let out his frustrations. He had no interest in a marrying a rich spoiled princess. He wanted excitement and adventure and from the princesses he had known over the years he would get none of that. They were more concerned with their looks and their clothes and prattling on about nothing. He had only been to two other balls in his life and both in his opinion were nothing short of boring.

As he entered the courtyard most of the knights were already sparing. He looked over across the courtyard and saw his good friend Felix sharpening his sword. He was always a good opponent, and one he was yet to beat. Every other knight in the kingdom he went up against he had beaten easily, but there was something about Felix that was different. He seemed to anticipate his every move before he had a chance to make it.

Rupert sometimes wondered if his friend had some sort of power in telling the future. His reflexes were inhumanly fast, and he had moves that no other knight could accomplish, like jumping ten feet in the air and landing right behind him and blindsiding him, and he didn't buy into that "He's the prince crap, so I have to let him win." Rupert liked it better that way, because one day he was going to beat him and when he did he knew it would be a genuine win.

He approached his friend with one objective in mind. His sword was ready, and he was willing. Felix looked up to see Rupert standing just a foot away with his sword drawn.

"I see that you're up for a fight," Felix said with a smirk.

"Can you take me on?" Rupert asked as he drew his sword. Felix picked up his and stepped out further into the yard.

"So you didn't get enough of a thrashing the last time we fought, awe?"

"You wish," Rupert said with a sneer and the fight was on, and Rupert was determined to win.

He took his stance and all the other practicing knights stopped their sparing and watched intensely as Rupert and Felix fought. More than a dozen young men were cheering, some for Felix and some for Rupert. As far as skill went, they were on equal terms, but Felix had something more. Perhaps it was the passion for a good fight. Rupert liked the attention, the cheers from the other knights egged him on to win, but it was the one thing that distracted him from his game.

The fight lasted what seemed like forever and it looked like Rupert was winning, but as always Felix pulled a move he wasn't expecting and the sword flew right out of his hand and onto the ground as did he. Felix had his sword at Rupert's neck and just laughed at his friend's defeat.

"It looks like I win again," Felix said and withdrew his sword. He reached out his hand to help Rupert get to his feet.

"It was a good fight," Rupert said and shook his hand.

The two friends walked off together far away from the crowd. Felix led Rupert to one of the weapons' tents. He always gave his swords a good cleaning after a fight, even a minor one such as this.

"So again you couldn't beat me," Felix said as he worked on his sword.

"It was close," Rupert said but Felix only sneered at his words.

"No it wasn't," Felix said as his put is now polished sword in its sheath. "I just let you think you were winning. You see, I know you're real weakness."

"And what is that?" Rupert asked. He was a bit offended by his friend's words.

"You're predictable," Felix said extending his forefinger and stabbing him in the chest with it. "Rupert, you play safe in every fight we have. That may work with the rest of the boys, but not me. You want to be best then you have to take the chance… of losing, and I don't mean the fight… I mean your life. You don't trust yourself and that is why you will always lose."

"Only to you," Rupert said but Felix only shook his head in disapproval. "Okay, what are you shaking your head about now?"

"You're naiveté," Felix said and let out a hearty laugh. Rupert looked annoyed. Felix would always do that. He would act like he knew something when in truth he knew nothing. "You're going to have to let that go if you hope to survive in the real world."

"I'll do just fine without any lectures from you," Rupert said, getting a little steamed. He walked to the entrance of the tent and peeked out. There was no one in sight. All the other knights were still in the yard training.

"So, you're still determined to go through with it?" Felix asked. Rupert looked surprised that his friend would say such a thing.

"You're not backing out, are you?" Rupert asked but Felix only smirked but kept silent for the longest time which made Rupert nervous. "You're still going to go through with this?"

"Sure, why not," Felix said and took on the task of removing some of his armor.

"Good, then the plan goes into motion tonight," Rupert said still weary that someone might be listening. He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Tell your man to come through the south side. No guards will be there tonight. I'll make sure of it."

"Don't worry, my man will know what to do, and we'll make it look real," Felix said and changed into a comfortable tunic. "Just be ready."

"I will," Rupert said as Felix left the tent. He thought long and hard about what he was about to do, but he realized he had no choice. There was no backing out now.

**This is just the first chapter, but I hope you liked it. There is more to come.**


	2. Chapter 2: In the Dead of Night

**Here's the next chapter. I have another chapter almost finished so I will be posting more of this story.**

**Chapter Two: In the Dead of Night**

That night Rupert paced in his room. He declined having dinner with his parents saying that he felt tired and run down. It was a necessary lie, but after tonight it wouldn't matter. He decided long ago that he needed to have a life of his own, and that would never happen as long as he was seen by the world as a prince and heir to a thrown.

Most people would think he was insane for giving up all he was born to, but he wanted freedom and there was always a price for that.

It was around midnight when he heard a knock on his door. Who would be coming to see him this late at night? He stayed completely silent. If whoever it was thought he was asleep then perhaps they would go away.

That hope was dashed when he heard a voice attached to that knock. "Darling, I know you're awake. Please, we need to talk."

He gave a deep groan at knowing his mother was out there. Things were not going as planned.

He opened the door to find his mother standing there with a worried look on her face. Her dark brown hair had two streaks of white, one on both sides of her face. She usually wore those strands in curls, but that night they were straight. That only signified that she had one of her visions again, and when she had them they were never anything good.

"Oh, Rupert, you're safe," she said as she came into the room. She was almost to the point of hysterics.

"Of course I'm safe, mother," Rupert said. He let out a deep breath. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I saw it," she said in cracked speech. Her face was pale, and she looked like she was about to faint. "You were in danger… and by someone close to you. Please, my son, stay here where it's safe. I couldn't bare it if anything happened to you."

"What could happen to me in this castle armed with hundreds of guards day and night?" he asked, getting very annoyed by her behavior.

His mother gave true meaning to the word drama queen, but there was always truth in what she saw, even if it was fueled by her own worries of the unknown.

"I can only tell you what I see, Rupert," she said insistently. She took his hand and squeezed it tight. "I see betrayal by someone you trust with your whole heart."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," he said and took her hand and kissed it. "You're the only one I trust whole-heartedly and I know you would never betray me."

"No, I would never do that, but someone else would," she said. She was almost crying at that point.

"Don't worry, Mother," he said and held her. "Nothing bad will happen.

Everything will be just fine. You'll see, but it's late now and I would like to get some sleep."

"Alright, my son, only have sweet dreams," she said and brushed her hand against his face. He walked her to the door and opened it. She stared at him for a long minute before she turned and walked down the hall.

He was feeling guilty for lying to her. He did love her, but he would have to hurt her more now than he ever thought he would and all for his freedom. He just wondered if what she said was true.

Rupert realized that even if he had changed his mind there was no stopping the plan now. He had to go through with it no matter what. He stood by his window and waited for the longest time, but nothing was happening. The night was completely silent. Not one bird was soaring through the sky and not even a cricket chirped that night. It gave him an eerie feeling, and his mother's words kept replaying over and over in his brain.

He wanted to change clothes but being out of his night garments would raise suspicion, so he remained where he was. Part of him was exhausted from the tension and the guilt of what he was about to do, and part of him just wanted to drift off into sleep and forget about everything. The later took hold and he couldn't help but close his eyes. He fell over onto his pillow in a half sitting position. It was a light sleep, but sleep none the less. It wasn't long before he was awakened by a sound.

"Wake up, pretty boy," a male voice called out. Rupert opened his eyes to see someone standing over him.

"Who the hell are you?" Rupert said confused.

"You're abductor," he said with a smirk. "Felix sent me, so we better make this look real."

"You must be joking," Rupert said with annoyance in his voice. He sat up on his bed and stretched his arms. "There's no way anyone is going to believe that you could overpower me."

"That's true, Prince," he said and walked over to the window. He raised his hand up and Rupert witnessed two big burly men enter his room. "I'm the brains." He then pointed in the direction of his associates. "They're the brawn."

"Okay, whatever you say," Rupert said rising to his feet. "You're late."

"We got held up," the young man said or rather boy. This kid didn't look more than sixteen, and Rupert laughed silently to himself at the thought of this scrawny boy being his "kidnapper."

"We have to make this look real," Rupert said.

"Don't worry," the boy said and raised his hand and snapped his finger. "We will."

The two larger men came towards him, and before he knew it he felt a fist go right to his jaw. He fell to the ground still conscious but unable to move, because the other man was sitting on his back. He found it hard to breathe as he felt his arms being pulled back and tied with what felt like rope or twine.  
>He wanted it to look real, but this was a little too real. Finally the man got up from off his chest but he realized he couldn't move because his legs were tied up as well.<p>

"What the hell are you…" he shouted out, but his words were cut off because he mouth had been gagged.

The boy got up in his face and laughed. "Surprise, Princey, this is for real."  
>He gave a signal to one of his man and that was the last thing Rupert remembered before blacking out.<p>

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review.**


	3. Chapter 3: In Peril

**Here's another chapter. In this one we meet Ruppert's parents and they are going to make a horrible discovery.**

**Important Note: For anyone who read this chapter when I first published it I want to apologize. I can be a bit of a ding-a-ling and didn't add the last scene. So this is the full version of this chapter.**

**Chapter Three: In Peril**

Her name was Loretta and she was the queen of this vast kingdom, but for all her power and position she was a mother first. She had been having visions for the past month or so and all about her beloved son. Rupert was her whole life, and if she lost him there would be no reason to go on.

Yes, she did love her husband, she and Matthias had been betrothed when they were children and by some miracle they managed to fall in love, but it wasn't until Rupert was born that Queen Loretta understood what it truly meant to love. She was responsible for this new life. She had given birth to it and it was up to her to protect it. Now, that life was in danger and she vowed that nothing bad was ever going to happen to her son.

It was that promise that led her to drastic measures. It was she who had insisted Rupert stay in the castle and never be permitted to leave and for the most part he did. There were only certain occasions that he was allowed to venture out into the world but only with heavy security. The world was dangerous, and she couldn't take the chance of losing him. She had received a vision several days before his birth. She saw his death so clearly in her mind and she was going to do everything she could to stop it.

That night was like every other night, the half-moon was out and shining, but not as bright as it could be. She couldn't shake this awful feeling that something bad was going to happen. She had visited her son's room earlier and he was still safely tucked away for the night. She wished she could have stayed with him and watched over him as he slept like she did when he was a child, but he was a man now and all of 21 years and her place was further in the background.

A young man didn't need their mother hovering over them all the time. Rupert was becoming more independent in the last few years insisting on training with the knights, something his father more than approved of, but the thought of those brutes roughing up her only son was too much for her.

Even last month when the kingdom sponsored the yearly games she didn't want Rupert to be a part of it, but in his stubbornness he refused to bide by her wishes. She didn't have the heart to attend, not wanting to see her son get hurt. She waited in her chambers all the day just waiting to get the horrible news about Rupert. The only news that came was that he had won three out the five events that he had competed in. His father's only complaint was that he did not win the other two.

Loretta was in her bedchamber unable to sleep. Even after her talk with Rupert that night it did not ease her mind any. She paced the room slowly with the vision of his death playing over and over in her mind. There had to be something she could do to change this fate. It could not happen again, not like it did with her father. She was determined to stop it.

She walked to the window and looked out. The half-moon hung low in the sky. It looked sad to her, incomplete, the way she was after her father's death and before her son's birth. He was named for her father in hopes that the same fate wouldn't befall him. What were the chances of two men from the same family with the same name meeting the same end?

"This is not going to happen," she said out loud. Her long hair fell forward. She made no effort to pull it back as a few hairs clung to her tear-stained face. She then heard a voice from across the room and turned quickly. She hadn't realized the she had spoken out loud and awakened her sleeping husband.

"Loretta," he said sleepily as he sat up in bed. "Why are you still awake?"

She looked over at her husband, still carrying a worried look on her face. "I can't sleep," she said.

Matthias sat up in bed and shook his head back and forth. "Of course you can't sleep, if you don't get in bed and lie down and close your eyes."

"Don't patronize me, Matthias," she snapped at him. "I had another vision."  
>He just rolled his eyes and got out of bed. "What was it this time?"<p>

"The same one," she said and paced around the room. Each step became more and more frantic. "I see our son fighting for his life as that golden dagger is plunged repeatedly into his body. It's all the same every time… just like my father."

"Loretta, that's your own mind playing tricks on you," Matthias said and approached his wife. He grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her from pacing any longer. "You watched your father die exactly the same way, so you have convinced yourself the same thing will happen to Ruppert."

She used all her strength to break free of her husband's grip. "I'm not a raving lunatic, Matthias," she said and reached the door of their chamber, "and I'm going to prove it."

She opened the door and ran out of the room into the long hallway. She kept running with Matthias chasing after her calling out her name. There were guards posted at every corridor who were stunned by the queen's behavior, while servants peeked their heads out of their rooms to see what all the noise was about, but most of them were used to Loretta's sudden outbursts and went about their business paying little attention to her.

Loretta kept running until she reached her son's private chamber. She was frantic and tried to open the door, but she was so upset and frizzled by the vision repeating itself inside of her head that she couldn't open the door.

"Ruppert!" she called out over and over until she was sobbing uncontrollably.  
>When her husband finally reached her she was weak as a kitten as she beat on the door. "Loretta, stop this!' he demanded. He tried to shake her back to reality but she somehow regained her strength and fought him off. With her hands on the door she was finally calm enough to open it.<p>

She entered the room quietly calling for her son, but as she looked around all she saw was a mess. The room had been ransacked and there was no sign of her son. She walked slowly over to his bed and found a piece of parchment pinned to the mattress by a dagger, one very much like the one in her vision.  
>She screamed to the top of her lungs and fell onto the bed sobbing. Matthias picked up the parchment and read it.<p>

If you ever want to see you son again you will pay the amount of ten chests of gold. Payment expected in seven days or Prince Ruppert will be sent back to you in pieces.

There are a spot of blood on the parchment that had not yet dried. Matthias just stood there thinking about what to do next.

**I assume if you made it this far you read the whole chapter. In the next chapter we'll meet are heroine Alandra. She a female bounty hunter that takes the job of finding the missing prince. Remember to review and see you next time.**


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